Odd Baffle Strike

[jbrand11]

So how did this happen? I’m taking the gun and can to a local Smith but any suggestions would be appreciated.
It’s a Griffin Optimus. It was secured with one of their taper mounts. It was on an AR9 when this happened. Blast baffle no damage. First three regular baffles demolished. Fourth an fith baffles untouched and end cap blown off. Never saw it. Never heard a noise change and couldn’t find it. Baffle securing ring untouched.

 

[Matches Malone]

Did you disable and the reassemble before shooting and getting the baffle strike?

 

[jbrand11]

No. It was not disassembled prior to this. It has been together and used on an AR15(233) and an AR10(308) along with an SRS (6.5cm). Just not getting how the blast baffle and last two baffles were untouched but first three were and the end cap was blown off.

 

[Huskydriver]

What kind of bullets and were they Factory or reloads?

 

[TxWelder35]

@GRIFFIN_ARMAMENT

 

[jbrand11]

Federal bulk pack from PSA.

 

[Huskydriver]

Federal bulk pack from PSA.

I have seen some cheap 9mm throw it's jacket mid way down a can and do exactly what I see here... .. The jacket seperates takes out a few baffles but the main lead mass of the bullet continued flying true through the bore....I'm sure griffin will take care of it though

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Had you shot the AR9 with that can before?

 

[Reverie Ranges]

Separated jacket is a possibility. I've seen the metal get hot enough to temporarily distort the metal allowing the path of the bullet to strike the 3rd and 4th before returning to the original bullet path clearing the endcap cleanly. I have also seen the same but the bullet catch hard enough to tumble striking both sides and keyhole out the endcap. Was the can extra hot at the time of strike?

 

[Huskydriver]

How many rounds prior? Crush washer or muzzle shims?

Wouldn't think 22 cal or 6.5 would cause issues, since the bullet diameter are smaller

He said it was an ar9 so 9mm.... Dunno where your getting the 22 call 6.5 cal from...

What would cause it to do that? Wouldn't an FMJ be fully enclosed in the front? Unless it poorly adhered/literally already falling apart/separating jacking from the lead and there was a cut or something to grab in the front of the bullet. (Physics). But that would have been easily noticed when self loading ammo/inspection into the magazine.

Cheaply made 9mm ammo can have very thin jackets. I'm not saying that's what happened here but I have seen it happen

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I was going to go with thrown jacket, too.

Was the fed ammo hollow point? Because some of the cheaper ammo will throw jackets in HP if the load is a hot one... and a longer barrel might push up velocity to failure point.

It’s a thought... were there a lot of copper fragments in the debris? Was the round base there?

Sorry about your can!

Sirhr

 

[Reverie Ranges]

I was going to go with thrown jacket, too.

Was the fed ammo hollow point? Because some of the cheaper ammo will throw jackets in HP if the load is a hot one... and a longer barrel might push up velocity to failure point.

It’s a thought... were there a lot of copper fragments in the debris? Was the round base there?

Sorry about your can!

Sirhr

Upon further inspection of the pic, Sirhr is correct that the can contained the complete round that impacted the baffles. You can observe the complete jacket and demolished lead.

 

[hangunnr]

Well, I’ll go ahead and ask the stooopid question.....

Was this a .30 cal can? The damage shown would be exactly what I would expect to see if a .355 bullet was pushed through a 30 cal can.

 

[dfwglockguy]

^^^^^
This Good luck!

 

[jbrand11]

Only had 20 TD’s fires yesterday when this happened. Yes it’s been on it before but only 20rds then too. There were many more pieces of jacket and baffle and what I believe was lead that didn’t make it home with me. The rounds are not hollow points. Used shims not crush washer. The van is rated From 22 thru 300WM. Have used it on 9mm pistol for years without any problem.

 

[hermosabeach]

I have seen 5.56 pop mid air.... jacket flaw and the lead leaks out....

I have no idea why it cleared the first other then out of alignment....

The first is close to alignment and passes with no issues....

it finally hits a baffle and comes apart....

Do you use an alignment rod down the suppressor and into the bore when installing and after it has cooled after longer strings?

 

[kl3309]

So how did this happen? I’m taking the gun and can to a local Smith but any suggestions would be appreciated.
It’s a Griffin Optimus. It was secured with one of their taper mounts. It was on an AR9 when this happened. Blast baffle no damage. First three regular baffles demolished. Fourth an fith baffles untouched and end cap blown off. Never saw it. Never heard a noise change and couldn’t find it. Baffle securing ring untouched.

Well, I’ll go ahead and ask the stooopid question.....

Was this a .30 cal can? The damage shown would be exactly what I would expect to see if a .355 bullet was pushed through a 30 cal can.

Hangunnr is correct in a way. The blast baffle that the OP mentions is for use with up to .30 cal only. For 9mm, it should have been configured with only the 5 coned baffles.

When the Optimus first came out, there weren't any 9mm taper mount muzzle devices so you could only build it as a 9mm suppressor using the 3-lug or booster and piston adapter caps. In that configuration, you could not physically install the rifle blast baffle.

It would be a good idea for anybody with a user-configurable can to run a rod in whatever caliber they're about to shoot, through the can first just to double-check themselves.

 

[DuneBoer]

bullet too big for baffles

 

[jbrand11]

Yes I use an alignment rod. No never fire strings that heat up the can much. Can always handle them with bare hand. Have always used this configuration since they made taper mounts available. But good point. Thank you all for your input.

 

[GRIFFIN_ARMAMENT]

First off... I'm glad you're ok, and no one was hurt.

@jbrand11 please contact our Customer Service department first thing tomorrow. Richard can get you squared away with the necessary repairs.

phone: 262-200-0003 Opt 1
email: [email protected]

The dual taper locking "blast baffle" is a .30 Caliber part, so thats what caught your 9mm bullets! Any 9mm host configurations should delete that baffle in assembly. Its ok, this is a relatively simple fix. We'll examing the silencer, disassemble the parts and assess the damage. Turn around should be quick as we have Optimus parts on hand and will be able to rebuild it no problem (so long as the tube isn't damaged, which with the shielded baffle stack... I almost guarantee its perfectly fine)

Also, for anyone curious, we have an Optimus Tutorial Video on our YouTube channel... its almost an hour long, but it covers literally everything.

 

[Bender]

Holy cow Batman! Glad it’s all ok!

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Well, I’ll go ahead and ask the stooopid question.....

Was this a .30 cal can? The damage shown would be exactly what I would expect to see if a .355 bullet was pushed through a 30 cal can.

That was the reasoning behind my question that was never answered.
Looked like a case of hole too small for bullet.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

First off... I'm glad you're ok, and no one was hurt.

@jbrand11 please contact our Customer Service department first thing tomorrow. Richard can get you squared away with the necessary repairs.

phone: 262-200-0003 Opt 1
email: [email protected]

The dual taper locking "blast baffle" is a .30 Caliber part, so thats what caught your 9mm bullets! Any 9mm host configurations should delete that baffle in assembly. Its ok, this is a relatively simple fix. We'll examing the silencer, disassemble the parts and assess the damage. Turn around should be quick as we have Optimus parts on hand and will be able to rebuild it no problem (so long as the tube isn't damaged, which with the shielded baffle stack... I almost guarantee its perfectly fine)

Also, for anyone curious, we have an Optimus Tutorial Video on our YouTube channel... its almost an hour long, but it covers literally everything.

And this, folks, is how customer service is done!

Guess what company just went to the top of my list for my next ‘can!

Glad the mystery is solved!

Cheers, Sirhr

 

[jbrand11]

Looks like this was due to over confidence and stupidity. We have four of these cans and I failed to stay with the basics and “read the directions “. As for Griffin Armament for those that didn’t already know they have always been excellent with any help I’ve needed.thank you all again for your input.

 

[Long Range 338]

Looks like this was due to over confidence and stupidity. We have four of these cans and I failed to stay with the basics and “read the directions “. As for Griffin Armament for those that didn’t already know they have always been excellent with any help I’ve needed.thank you all again for your input.

Damn. I'm the guy that HATES Owners Manuals and never asks for directions... I'm gonna have to amend my pride! OP glad you are in one piece still.

@GRIFFIN_ARMAMENT, thanks for showing us what a stand up outfit you are.